As a matter of heart…

If I had a billion dollars…

I was chatting with a friend on gtalk the other day and was, as usual, complaining about work. He mentioned something about wishing he had a billion dollars and my imagination went on overdrive. I was suddenly filled with hopeful spleandor at the thought of not having to worry about money.

I realised too that it was something I had never thought about, mostly because of my roots and the fact that I know I’ll have to work for money for the rest of my life – and I had accepted that. I like working; I just wish I was paid more. But that’s besides the point.

My instinctual fantasy was this:
I’d bartend in a cute little Irish Pub with regulars consisting of all sorts of people1 from all walks of life, in Greece2. I’d want to work Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm3 and have my evenings and weekends off. Notice the four day work week? This is a fantasy after all.

Then I started building on this fantasy:
In the evening and on the weekends, I’d spend time on my yacht sailing around the islands or off in my plane where I can go sky diving. After work in the evenings, I’d walk through the vineyard4 and then down to the cellar and pick out a nice bottle of red for dinner. I’d cook my own meals and probably have seafood every night5… lobster, crab, mussels, fish, scallops6 and of course my absolute favourite shrimp!

Thinking this way put a huge smile on my face… a smile that has been missing from my face for a long time now. This chat with my friend made me realise what it was that I was missing from my life. I had somehow lost the one thing that kept me going through everything that I ever go through. Losing this had caused me to become bitter and even whiny7. Now I just have to try and hold on to my hope. Its the first time in a really8 long time that I had lost it so I wasn’t really sure what I was missing until now.

I have my friend to thank, but he’s going to remain anonymous because I’m not sure he’d want to be advertised… but thank you.

responses to “If I had a billion dollars…” 14

@Ayprel: I just can’t see myself doing nothing all the time. I need structure to my days. I guess I’m ‘special’ LOL

@Penny: Yeah, I think I’d definitely see the whole world too but that’s what my yacht is for 😉

@LindsayannGs: lol I know, the title was actually inspired by the Barenaked Ladies song, “If I had a million dollars…” Its so crazy that a million just isn’t enough anymore. Your dream sounds quite nice 🙂 I hope I’d be invited to these events and galas!

ya know, it USED to be if I had a MILLION dollars.. now people can spend a million dollars in 10 minutes in their imaginations.. buy a house, a car and thats about all you are doing with your million.. with taxes and all.

Man if i had a million.. I would probably get a house with a fenced in yard, get a condo in hawaii and take scuba lessons. then the rest I would use to fund a HUGE pet rescue/shelter (no kill of coarse) that has all kinds of animal lovers working at it because I would pay them well.. and i would fund it by having events and gallas

Hehe I’m with Ayprel. I don’t think I’d work. I would definitely go travelling across the whole world though, before coming back and trying to do things that still made my life meaningful even tho I am mega rich 😀

Pennys latest..“Be careful to perform your allotted task while it is yet day”

@TOPolk: LOL No, sorry two chicks at the same time is *not* an acceptable answer ;P Then again if you had a billion dollars, there wouldn’t be much I could do to stop you either. I for one would change what I do because I’m not all that happy with my life right now. I’m glad to hear that you are though 🙂

@Web-Betty: That’s really nice! You’ve gone and made me realise that I didn’t think of anyone but myself when I imagined myself winning the lottery. I guess I finally have to admit it, I’m selfish!

@AmeriGlide: That sounds like a wonderful idea to buy land – not sure why I didn’t think of it. hehe

@Rufina: Man, you guys are seriously making me look bad for only thinking about myself. I mean its not like I would actually only spend the money on myself if I ever won but it wasn’t my first thought to spend it on anyone else either. D’oh!

@Erica: Haha paying off debts – that is actually the first thing I *would* do but I didn’t bother mentioning because its a given hehe. And now that I think about it, that’s my excuse for not mentioning sharing with friends… its a given!! hehe

@Lyndi: Wow I had no idea Zimbawean dollars were so… small! I agree that my current work would not feature on my list, but I do need some kind of work. I’m a routine type of person… hehe

@Greggy: hahaha I will definitely keep you in mind – though you’d be an expensive hire as I’d obviously have to move your family too ;P

@erin: I agree, I’d definitely get bored – and bartending is the best thing I can think of to do with the rest of my days. Its my most favourite job in the whole world 🙂

this is a really good question. if you really sit down and think about it and answer it honestly, i think it can reveal a lot.

i would definitely quit my job. i would quickly get bored if i didn’t have some sort of job, though. i might do volunteer work to keep me busy and fulfilled. i’d buy a vacation home on the water somewhere.

Oh Reggy, it would be nice to fly in the higher orbits wouldn’t it? (If you need a guy to drive your limo’s – play steward on your private Jets, draw your bath’s, and muscle the pesky photographer clowns out your way when leaving your Manhattan penthouse on the way to the next red carpet premier (somewhere/anywhere) –well hey I’m your man!! .-)

The answer to this one is simple if you are speaking about Zimbabwean dollars. If you were I would have to say that I would buy two loaves of bread. If you are speaking about American dollars I would most probably have a long list of things I would want to do. Immaterial of what I add to that list I can promise you that work, in any form, will not feature on the list.

I would buy you a K car… 😉
But seriously, I would treat friends and family to a cruise (my cousin just returned from a cruise and it looked amazingly fun), share the love by paying off family debts, quit my job (even though I love it!) and buy a yarn shop. I already know which one I want to buy, even though I’ve never been there. It’s in Calgary, which is close enough to the mountains that I can get some great snowboarding in.

These plans change on a regular basis, except for the paying off debts and sharing with family and friends. That never changes!

A billion dollars is way too much money.. I would settle for like $10-15 million lol. I would buy a house in country where I can have a summer home, so my family can spend time there, and I would buy a whole bunch of animals and hire caretakers to make sure they’re treated well.
I would also travel all over the world.

@Web-Betty the way they are currently giving away trillions of dollars in Washington, I am not so sure that a million would be enough. Although I too would be happy with a million dollars 😉

In regards to the idea of having a billion dollars, I think I would have to buy a large amount of land, perhaps even an island, where I could have lots of animals, spend lots of time outdoors, and generally live a life that is close to nature.

In all seriousness, if I had a billion dollars, I’d probably keep doing the same things that I do now. Why change? I would make sure that my closest friends and family would never have to work again though.

I mean, what good is all that money and free time if I don’t have anyone to enjoy it with.